Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 2 Persuasion
At the Guiwang Mansion, Zhu Lang walked hurriedly into the backyard with a gloomy look.
Several maids and eunuchs followed behind him with panicked expressions. They didn't understand why the prince's face changed when the people in the front yard just came to announce the good news.
They didn't know why Zhu Lang was angry, but they knew that their prince was in a very bad mood, so they acted more cautiously, fearing that they would anger Zhu Lang.
When they arrived at the backyard, Zhu Lang waved his hand, and the maids and eunuchs stopped outside the house, while Zhu Lang hurried into the main hall of the backyard.
There were two middle-aged women sitting in the main hall. The one at the top had a gentle expression, while the woman on the left had sharp eyebrows and eyes, and looked somewhat similar to Zhu Lang.
"My queen, what's going on? Didn't I ask you to tell those people from the previous dynasty that I don't want to be the regent? Do you know that just now..."

Zhu Lang looked angry, but was interrupted before he could finish.
"How do you talk to the princess?"

Before the gentle lady at the top could say anything, the lady below stood up and pointed at Zhu Lang and shouted:

Zhu Lang's expression froze. The woman sitting at the head of the two people in the hall was named Wang Shuyu, Zhu Lang's father and the wife of the former King of Gui.

The fierce-looking woman below is Zhu Lang's biological mother, Ma Yuying, the former concubine of the King of Gui.

"I was in a hurry and was disrespectful. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Lang bowed awkwardly. Although he had the original owner's memories, it was very difficult for a modern person to perform these ancient rituals.
"Silang was just anxious for a moment, it's okay," Wang Shuyu said softly.

Seeing Zhu Lang bow and apologize, Ma Yuying snorted and sat back in her seat.
But Zhu Lang was in no mood to care about Ma Yuying's feelings at this time.

"I have already explained all the pros and cons to Your Majesty. I really cannot be the regent," Zhu Lang said with a sad expression.
"The country was in turmoil, and my family and I have been in exile for many years. We first went to Hengzhou, then Guangxi, and then to Guangdong. We have been displaced for several years, and even fell into the hands of bandits and were imprisoned several times.

My father has passed away, and my brother passed away last year. In such a huge palace, there are only a few of us left to rely on each other. I don’t want to be an emperor now, I just hope that my family and I are safe.”

When Zhu Lang said this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The Guiwang Mansion was originally granted Hengzhou, but at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the country was in chaos, bandits were everywhere, Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Hunan and Chu, and the former Guiwang Mansion's fiefdom was also in chaos.
Zhu Lang's father did not have the courage to recruit soldiers to fight against the rebels, so he could only flee with everyone in Guiwang Mansion before Zhang Xianzhong's troops arrived. However, Guiwang Mansion was a large family with many gifts, so how could they escape the pursuit of the rebels?
But just as they arrived at the Hunan-Guangxi border, they were robbed by the horse bandit Zhang Xianzhong.

The entire Guiwang Mansion also fled in all directions. During this period, Zhu Youlang and Ma and Wang were even captured by the rebel army under Zhang Xianzhong and imprisoned in the city.
Fortunately, there were several officials who were forced to surrender to the rebels and were loyal to the Ming Dynasty. They made many attempts to persuade them, which allowed Zhu Youlang and others to survive the chaos.

Later, Zhang Xianzhong's Dashi Army was eager to enter Sichuan from Chu to proclaim himself emperor, which saved Zhu Youlang's life and was rescued.

After several years of exile, the Gui Wang family finally reunited in Guangxi Province, but not long after, the former Gui Wang passed away.

Last year, the Prince of Jingjiang rebelled, and his family fled from Guangxi to Zhaoqing, Guangdong. Zhu Youlang's brother also died in Guangdong soon after. Now only Zhu Lang and a few female relatives are left in the entire line of the Prince of Guangxi. It is really miserable.

It was this period of exile that united the people in the Guiwang Mansion, and Zhu Lang was able to persuade the concubine to go to the former court to refuse to resign as regent for him.
"The Eastern Tartars are gradually showing their strength and have the potential to sweep across the world. If I don't ascend the throne, I still have the power to turn things around. At worst, I can keep my family safe.

If I accept this throne, I will be a thorn in the eyes of the Eastern Tartars. A tall tree attracts the wind. By then, even if I want to save my family’s lives, I will not be able to do so. I absolutely cannot accept this throne.”

The more Zhu Lang spoke, the sadder his voice became.
When Wang and Ma heard Zhu Lang's words, they recalled their exile life in the past few years and the miserable future that Zhu Youlang had described. Their eyes became red and they almost shed tears.
After several years of exile, they were no longer the royal nobles who were confined in the palace and ignorant of the suffering of the people. They had seen the Ming army being easily defeated by the rebels and the rebels massacring the city. They had no hope for the Ming Dynasty.
"I know what Silang said, but the two gentlemen Qu Shisi and Ding Kuichu of the previous dynasty were very determined and insisted that Silang must be the regent. I also pleaded with them to appoint someone else, but the two gentlemen firmly refused," Wang said sadly.

"Why do these two thieves insist on making me the regent?"

Zhu Lang looked at the woman with red eyes, and a surge of anger rose in his heart. He gritted his teeth and said
"Master Qu and Master Ding have counted the bloodlines of the previous emperors. Only Emperor Shenzong is still a descendant.
The other three branches of the four princes of Emperor Shenzong's bloodline have all died for their country, leaving only the Guiwang Mansion, and only Silang is left in the Guiwang Mansion. The two adults said that Silang's legal lineage is the most legitimate and must be appointed as regent."

Zhu Lang was also stunned when he heard this. Although he had memories of his previous life, who would care about who his grandfather was? He really didn't know that he was the last direct grandson of Emperor Wanli.
He knew that in his previous life, Qu Shisi and Ding Kuichu wanted to make him regent, but he thought that the two of them supported him only because his surname happened to be Zhu and he happened to be in their territory.
In the late Ming Dynasty, all the warlords and ministers found a prince of Zhu Ming and proclaimed themselves emperors. There were countless things they did to establish their rule. How could he have imagined that his body would have such an identity?
"Then why didn't they say it before? Didn't the princess say before that some court officials opposed it? Maybe they no longer have this idea?" Zhu Lang said bitterly.

"Because they received news that Emperor Longwu died for his country," Wang said

"What's the reason? Didn't they already know that the previous emperor died for his country?"

Zhu Lang looked puzzled. Emperor Longwu died in Tingzhou in August. When he traveled here in September, the court had already received the news.

When he asked the princess to go to the former court to declare that she would not be the regent, the ministers in Zhaoqing City had already known about this matter.
"As Silang knows, Lord Qu has always advocated that our Gui Wang family ascend the throne as regent, but later there were many rumors in the court that the late emperor was just dispersed by the rebellious army and is still between Fujian and Jiangxi.
Lord Ding then insisted on finding out the truth and not allowing another regent to be appointed, so the former officials stopped discussing the regent," Wang said.

In Guangdong and Guangxi, where Zhu Lang is now, the most powerful people are Ding Kuichu and Qu Shisi. Ding Kuichu is the current Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, while Qu Shisi is the Governor of Guangxi. All matters in Guangdong and Guangxi are decided by these two people.
Zhu Lang narrowed his eyes slightly. According to his previous incarnation's memory, Qu Shisi seemed to have always wanted to establish the Guiwang Palace as the orthodox one. Moreover, this plan was not made after the death of Emperor Longwu. This person wanted to promote the Guiwang family to the throne last year when Emperor Longwu was not established.

Even after Emperor Longwu ascended the throne and won the support of the majority, this man still refused to give up. He even refused Emperor Longwu's invitation to serve in Beijing as an official, but he remained as the governor of Guangxi and had frequent contact with his brother.
As for Ding Kuichu, he was promoted to earl during the Longwu Dynasty and served as governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Naturally, he was loyal to Emperor Longwu. Even when he heard the news of Emperor Longwu's death, he was unwilling to appoint another regent.
As the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ding Kuichu had a large army under his command, so his appeal was naturally not comparable to that of Qu Shisi, the Governor of Guangxi.
As long as he showed his opposition, no one would mention the idea of ​​establishing a new regent.

But according to the records Zhu Lang saw in his previous life, Ding Kuichu may not be very loyal to the Ming Dynasty or Emperor Longwu.
The reason why he did not support Zhu Lang's accession to the throne was that it was Qu Shisi who had been pushing for Zhu Lang to take the throne.

If Zhu Lang really ascended the throne as regent, then the first credit for Conglong would be to Qu Shisi, not Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. How could this be possible? "I just learned that the ministers in Fuzhou City had arrived in Zhaoqing City overnight a few days ago and confirmed that Emperor Longwu had died. They suddenly decided to appoint Silang as regent. I just learned about this too. They directly appointed Silang as regent without telling me a word before," Wang said in a sad voice.

Now the matter has been made clear. The ministers of the Longwu Dynasty entered the city and confirmed that the Longwu Emperor had died. This was the direct reason why everyone suddenly urged him to ascend the throne.

The fact that the ministers of the Longwu Dynasty came to Zhaoqing overnight clearly represented the attitude of the ministers of the Longwu Dynasty. They wanted to establish Zhu Lang as the legitimate heir to the throne, just as Qu Shisi had thought.
Zhu Lang was of orthodox blood, with Qu Shisi's support and Longwu officials' approval, so Ding Chukui had no choice but to go with the flow and start to persuade Zhu Lang to become regent.

As for Zhu Lang's own opinion, does it matter? The ministers of the three forces in the outer court have reached a consensus. How can a prince like Zhu Lang, who has no troops and no power, oppose it?

So after they reached a consensus, they directly submitted a petition to establish a fait accompli and began their persuasion process without considering Zhu Lang's opinion at all.

"These traitors"

Zhu Lang said harshly
The atmosphere in the hall was dull, and the three of them looked at each other in silence. From the attitudes of the court officials, they had already discovered that these officials were respectful on their faces, but in their hearts they did not care much about them, the Gui Wang Concubines.

"I am already confused, please forgive me for leaving first. My two majesties, don't worry, I will take care of everything."

Zhu Lang looked at the two people with sad faces, comforted them, and left the courtyard.
His mind was a little confused now. Now that he had figured out the reason for the sudden change of heart of the previous dynasty, he needed to figure out a solution as soon as possible.

Zhu Lang dismissed all the maids and eunuchs outside the room, and then went into the study alone.
"The Emperor Longwu has been confirmed dead, so they want to establish a regent as their banner. Can I submit a petition to ask the Prince of Lu to be the regent?"

Zhu Lang wrote the words "Prince of Lu" on the paper, thought for a while, then shook his head and crossed out the words "Prince of Lu".
The Prince of Lu was in Zhejiang, right next to the Longwu court in Fujian. Why did the officials of Longwu travel thousands of miles to Zhaoqing to support the Prince of Gui, who had no troops, no power, and no name?

Because Tang and Lu were fighting for supremacy
When Emperor Longwu was the regent of the Tang Dynasty, the two sides had already led their troops to fight each other in order to compete for the orthodox title, which means that the two sides had been enemies for a long time.
More importantly, the Prince of Lu, who was in charge of the state, already had his own team.

If these old officials of Longwu welcomed the Prince of Lu to Fujian, they would most likely be driven out of the court by their enemies and lose their power. How could they bear this?
Even if supporting the Prince of Lu now could minimize the internal friction of the Ming Dynasty and unite the forces of various provinces to resist the Qing Dynasty as soon as possible, they would never do it.
In order to continue to maintain their power, the only way for these old officials of Longwu is to appoint another regent, so that they can still be the meritorious officials who were welcomed and enthroned, and still be the cabinet elders, the ministers, and the assistant ministers.

Even Qu Shisi and Ding Kuichu, who had no direct grudge against the King of Lu, would not agree to support the King of Lu, because they were also old officials of Longwu.
The situation now is that everyone has been busy and unanimously decided to make you the emperor. What's wrong with you, little brother?
If you don't want to be the emperor, how can we support you? If we don't support you, how can we get promoted and make money? Your current state makes it very difficult for us to deal with it.

Zhu Lang's face became more gloomy when he thought of this.

In fact, Zhu Lang had no way out since the ministers submitted petitions to persuade him to ascend the throne.

Of course, he could throw a tantrum and refuse to be emperor, but if he used this trick, he would probably lose his status as a vassal king, and his previous plan to make a fortune would probably not be implemented.
More importantly, once these court officials re-established an emperor, how could the new emperor tolerate seeing that there was a vassal king who had been persuaded by everyone not far from him, and whose bloodline was even more legitimate than his own?

I'm afraid the first thing the new emperor would do upon ascending the throne would be to get rid of Zhu Lang, and this decision would probably be unanimously agreed upon by all the ministers.

Two unfamiliar faces flashed through Zhu Lang's mind.
There was nothing he could do about Qu Shisi. He was capable and skillful. He was not only able to govern the people, but also defended Guilin to the death and repelled the Qing army. He followed Emperor Yongli and worked for the Southern Ming until his death. Later historians, no matter which side they were on, praised Qu Shisi highly.

Although he destroyed Zhu Lang's hidden plan in this life, Zhu Lang did not have much hatred towards him.
In fact, from Qu Shisi's perspective, he was a true loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and he was incomparable to Zhu Lang, who wanted to poach people and run away as soon as he arrived.
But the other Ding Kuichu is another story. According to the records of the previous life, after Yongli ascended the throne, he used his status as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi to forcibly occupy the position of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, made friends with eunuchs, and controlled the government. When the Qing army invaded Guangdong, he was so scared that he fled overnight.

Before the Qing army arrived, he took Emperor Yongli to Guangxi. After the Qing army entered Guangxi, he fled in the name of the commander-in-chief and secretly surrendered to Li Chengdong of the Qing court.

But he failed to be a traitor in the end. Li Chengdong killed him with a knife and robbed him of all his wealth. If the records are correct, the silver alone was as much as 800,000 taels!
"You want to support me, right? You want to follow me, right? Fine, then I will be the emperor for a while. I just hope you won't regret it later."

Zhu Lang thought about the many important things that would happen after he ascended the throne, and his face was grim.
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(End of this chapter)